What Top Colleges Look for in Pre-Med Applicants

Webinar Transcription

2025-12-11-What Top Colleges Look for in Pre-Med Applicants

**Please note, we had a speaker change as Mattia was unavailable**

Lonnie: [00:00:00] Hello everyone. Welcome to CollegeAdvisor’s webinar, “What Top Colleges Look For and Pre-Med Applicants.” My name is Lonnie Burrell and I will be your moderator for this webinar to orient everyone with the webinar timing. We’re first gonna begin with our presentation, and then we’ll have the opportunity to answer your questions when we get to our live q and a.

Lonnie: You can also go ahead and download the slides now by going to the handouts tab and clicking on download, and they are readily available for you. And this webinar will be recorded and available on our CollegeAdvisor’s webinar. So with that said, let’s now meet our presenter.

Ishaani: Hey everyone, my name is Ishaani. Um, I am an internal medicine resident in New York City. Um, I [00:01:00] was a member of Brown’s PLME program or program in liberal medical education. So I went to Brown for both undergrad and medical school. Um, I also grew up in the Chicago suburbs and with respect to the college advising space, I’ve been in this space since the sophomore year of undergrad.

Ishaani: So it’s crazy to say it out loud, but I’ve been in this space for like seven, almost eight years now. Um, and uh, yeah, I’ve also had the experience of like applying to many BSMD programs back when I was applying to college, but like almost 10 years ago now. So I’ve, you know. Been through the process myself about a decade ago.

Ishaani: I’ve led a lot of students through this process over these past seven or eight years working in this space. Um, and then I also, on the other end, end of things, I also read applications for Brown’s program and liberal medical education last cycle. So I’ve also been on the, uh, admissions kind of committee and reading committee before.

Ishaani: So I think I have a really [00:02:00] great perspective on. What programs look for in a BSMD program and even more generally, pre-med programs. Um, a little bit more about me. I also studied computational biology and undergrad. Um, so that’s kind of what I studied in undergrad. And then I went to medical school and I’m currently an internal medicine resident.

Ishaani: So excited to chat about what top colleges look for in a pre-med applicant and answer all the questions I can.

Lonnie: Well, thank you so much. I could only imagine how busy you are, uh, now in your residency. So thank you so much for stepping in and to share more about this very important topic around what top top colleges are looking for in pre-med applicants.

Lonnie: So before we get into the actual presentation portion of our webinar, we just launched our poll. And our poll is asking you to share with us what grade you are in. We love to just find moments to speak directly to [00:03:00] our live audience. So if you can just take a second and let us know. And, um, Ishaani, if you don’t mind, just, you know, sharing maybe like what’s a win that you’ve had this month as it relates to you doing your residency, because we’re at the end of the year, we’re getting ready to start New year, new vibe.

Lonnie: So can you share just a win that you’ve had?

Ishaani: Yeah, some wins this month. Uh, I’ve had a really busy month, as you can imagine. The residency schedule is very demanding, but very fun. I, I do love the work that I get to do every day. Um, some wins. I’ve had some patients who are really, really sick and unfortunately in the hospital for like, kind of a long time, like three, four weeks.

Ishaani: And last week I was able to send two of them home, which is great. Like they’re finally feeling well enough to get out of the hospital. Um, you know, they don’t have to deal with hospital food and they can spend time with their families and their loved ones and enjoy, um, family time, which was great. And then I was also working on Thanksgiving in the [00:04:00] hospital and my program did a very cute, uh, like Thanksgiving lunch for us.

Ishaani: So it’s nice to have a little bit of time to enjoy and chat with my co-residents and colleagues about how the, how the year’s been going with everyone.

Lonnie: Nice. That’s awesome. Well, thank you for sharing, just giving our audience a glimpse of like, you know, your life and what it looks like to be a resident.

Lonnie: But I know that you have a, I’m sure there’s a lot of challenges that go on, but like just, you know, sharing some of the wins that you’ve had this past month. So with that set, I’m now gonna share with you the results of our poll. So we have 37% actually moving up. 38% of our audience are in the ninth grade, followed by that.

Lonnie: We have 34% that are in the 10th grade, 22% 11th grade, 5%, 12th grade, and just a little under 1% is other. So large representation from our ninth and 10th grade, [00:05:00] uh, students tonight, which is really great to hear. So with that said, I am now gonna turn it over to you to share with our audience what does it mean to be pre-med?

Ishaani: Okay. Okay, awesome. So first things first, let’s talk about what means to be pre-med in the first place. Um, so pre-med is a pretty general term. It refers to students that are preparing for admission to med school. One thing that I like to make really clear is that pre-med is not about a specific major.

Ishaani: It’s about taking a specific set of prerequisite courses, um, usually like science and math courses as well. Um, it focuses of, you know, of course being a physician, it’s pretty. Science heavy. So it focuses a lot on bio, of course chemistry, a little bit of physics, and also just overall general critical thinking.

Ishaani: Um, as pre-med students, you take the prerequisite courses of course, but also to, you know, prepare for a strong application to medical school. [00:06:00] You also gain and work on gaining experiences in the clinical space in a research space or in a volunteering and community kind of focused space. So those I think are the big buckets I think of for, um, what pre-meds do outside of school.

Ishaani: Um, that being said, being a pre-med and also being a doctor in general is one thing I really love about the field. It’s like a very choose your own adventure kind of field. People come in with very different backgrounds and I mean, backgrounds. In all senses of the world, people come with very different academic backgrounds.

Ishaani: English majors become pre-meds, sociology majors become pre-meds linguistics majors become doctors, engineers become doctors. Computational biologists become doctors, computer science majors become doctors. So really there’s just a big background. People’s academic backgrounds, people come from different families, uh, different like, you know, diverse, like different diverse backgrounds with respect to where they grew up, what kind of family [00:07:00] structure they grew up in, um, and the like.

Ishaani: And I think that diversity of backgrounds is what is super important in medicine. When you think about the people that you want to be doctors, doctors shouldn’t be one kind of person. It should be a very diverse group of people. A lot of different backgrounds.

Ishaani: This is a question I also get a lot. Do you have to major in stem pre-med? I feel like I kind of answered that already. No, you definitely do not. Medical schools accept students from all majors, not just STEM majors. For example, one of my really good friends, um, she majored in English and then kinda did a minor in biology.

Ishaani: And some of her areas of interests were narrative medicine. And also she’s interested in like medical journalism. So you of course have to take these prior prerequisite courses that we talked about, like the required science and math prereq courses, all the pre-meds take that. But what you major in is your decision.

Ishaani: Um. And if, you know, if you’re majoring in English, as long as you get those stellar and strong [00:08:00] science grades, you’ll still look like a and still be a very strong applicant. I always tell people, choose a major that interests you and supports you getting a great GPA and these well-rounded skills. I also think people think like, oh, like I have to major in biology because they think I have to be interested in medicine.

Ishaani: And I often find that students that major in more like, you know, not classically pre-med majors sometimes have a really exciting story to share and sometimes have a very interesting niche within medicine, um, that they can speak to that not all doctors know about. You know? So I think coming in again with those diverse backgrounds and diverse academic backgrounds is what makes you stand out as an applicant.

Ishaani: Uh, again, another example. I had a friend in med school who was a religious studies major. And I think that really affected and influenced her the way that she kind of viewed medicine and her overall career choice.[00:09:00]

Ishaani: So what makes the pre-med programs unique compared to like just a traditional college pathway? The big thing is the pre-reqs you have to take. It’s focused on those medical career and thinking about stuff you need to know from the start of college. Um, also there’s like the structured coursework and the sciences and healthcare related experiences.

Ishaani: I think pre-med students, like I said, they really focus on getting that great, um, kind of. Outside of the classroom, stuff that really makes ’em stand out. For example, they focus on their strong research experiences, community service experiences, and also clinical experience. Um, I think as a pre-med student, you obviously, you often feel like you’re juggling a lot at once ’cause you’re taking these challenging and rigorous coursework.

Ishaani: Um, you’re also, you know, doing these really interesting and thoughtful, um, things outside of school. You know, you’re focusing [00:10:00] on your research, which sometimes can feel like an additional class. You’re focusing on your volunteer work, which can be like a couple hours a week as well. Um, you’re focused on getting maybe like shadowing and experiences in the hospital to really get a sense of like what being a clinician looks like.

Ishaani: You’re doing that as well. So the focus on time management, academic rigor and clinical exposure is really key to the pre-med experience. Because if you think about it, you know, when you are applying to med school, you’re basically telling people, Hey, I wanna be a doctor. And so this clinical exposure, it shows that you spent time in, in hospital and it shows that you know what being a doctor means.

Ishaani: ’cause you know, if someone’s saying I wanna be a doctor, they should have a really good sense of what they’re getting into. Um, BSMD programs is, which, like, that’s for example, like Brown’s program and liberal medical education. That’s an example of a BSMD program, AKA, like a bachelor’s degrees plus an MD.

Ishaani: And those offer more [00:11:00] direct and sometimes accelerated routes into medical school compared to the traditional path of you apply to an undergraduate school, you go to an undergraduate institution and then you apply to medical school and then you go to a medical school. Um, so for example, BSMD programs, you apply to them when you’re in high school.

Ishaani: So I applied to Brown’s program in liberal medical education. When I was in high school and from that I got, um, admission to Brown’s undergrad and medical school at the age of 18, which was a really special experience. It’s worth knowing that all BSMD programs are not the same. So Brown, for example, is a four plus four program.

Ishaani: So I did four years of undergrad, I did four years of medical school, and now here I am. Um, other programs in this space are sometimes like a little bit accelerated. So your undergrad experience might be three years. Um, your OR, and there’s some that even have two years of undergrad and four years of med school.

Ishaani: Um, when you think about like these programs and do I want an [00:12:00] accelerated experience, do I not, it’s often like a very personal decision that you make, and that’s something that I talk about with my students who are interested in BSMD very often. Um, and thinking about the time you have to explore your interests outside of medicine, the time you have to explore, like, you know, developing a niche within medicine.

Ishaani: Those extra, you know, accelerating undergrad to three versus four years, it makes a big difference. That being said, there’s some people that really thrive in that environment and that’s like a right fit for them, um, because they know exactly what they want and that, you know, that could be the best choice.

Ishaani: It really depends on what you want and how sure you are of things.

Ishaani: So now a question I get a lot, I think a lot of people are like interested in like, okay, I wanna be pre-med. How do I get there? What can I do now in high school to, you know, prepare myself for this career? Being a pre-med student and going eventually going to [00:13:00] medical school. So, you know, again, the prerequisites for pre-med are often math and science courses.

Ishaani: Uh, so you’re expected to have pretty strong performance in science and math courses. Especially biology, chemistry, and physics. That’s say the big ones. Um, if you go to a school that has honors or AP or IB classes, those can also make you stand out ’cause they show academic re rigor. Obviously everyone, something that I didn’t realize, but when you apply to college, something that you send in is something called a like school profile.

Ishaani: So your school sends, along with your application, comes a little like one or two page PDF where your school basically tells the colleges what your school is like. So they say, Hey, I’m so and so school. This is how big our class is, this is what are the demographics of this, our high school, these are what courses, um, our school has to offer.

Ishaani: ’cause oftentimes there are students that go to schools that don’t really [00:14:00] offer that many APs or don’t really offer that many like IB classes. And I want students who go to those kind of schools to know that that won’t be held against you. Just try thinking about taking the most rigorous classes that you can at your school.

Ishaani: So no one’s gonna fault you for not taking AP classes if they’re not even offered in the first place. Um, again, excelling in the classes that you do take. Getting a great GPA, having really strong standardized test scores is also gonna strengthen your application. And then also having involvement in STEM clubs research or kind of health, uh, care related extracurriculars.

Ishaani: Um, yeah, this is also the time that I like to take a step back and tell people that, you know, I think it’s, it’s crazy. Like I am, you know, a medicine resident now I’m a doctor. Um, and through med school there I met so many people that. Got into medicine from very different like paths and non-traditional [00:15:00] paths.

Ishaani: And I think sometimes, especially in college, you can feel like, oh, I have to know what I wanna do with my future right now. And you know, you guys, you know, you’re in high school like you’re 14, 15, 16, 17, you guys are still relatively young. It’s okay if you don’t know what you wanna do. Um, it’s okay if you think you go into college thinking you wanna be pre-med and realize, you know what, I don’t know if I wanna be pre-med anymore.

Ishaani: It’s okay If you go into college thinking that you want to go into one field and maybe you realize I’m your third or fourth year that actually I wanna be pre-med. There are even people in my medical school class who were, did post-BAC programs. They did college just not thinking they wanted to be a doctor.

Ishaani: They got outta college and they realized, wait a minute, I’d really love a career in medicine. And then I did a post-bac program and essentially did like extra courses and those pre-med recs and kind of accelerated one or two year courses. After undergrad and then they entered medical school and some of them matched at like the best places in the entire country.

Ishaani: So [00:16:00] it’s, you are never too early and you’re never too late for a career in medicine. Um, and again, that’s true most careers, you can always make a pivot later in life. So I just don’t, I like love giving these presentations and offering these insights onto like what a pre-med applicant looks like. But I just wanna remind people that, you know, you’re still in high school, you’re still young, you have the whole, your whole life ahead of you and you don’t have to make these decisions right now and you shouldn’t feel any pressure to do so.

Ishaani: Um, I kind of back, that’s a little tangent now, back to the presentation. What types of extracurricular activities will strengthen my application for pre-med colleges? So we previously talked about the kinds of, um, academic profile that’ll make you stand out. You know, the strong math class, the strong math and science classes.

Ishaani: The high GPAs, the solid test scores. Now let’s think about what types of activities will strengthen my, my cap? Like what kind of extracurricular activities? So [00:17:00] non-school things will make my application really sparkle. Um, clinical and shadowing and volunteering experiences really make a student stand out like I was saying before.

Ishaani: Um, you know, you’re telling these when you apply to a place as a pre-med, you sense you’re saying, I wanna be a doctor. And if you’re able to speak to experiences that show you really understand what being a doctor is, it makes that story even more compelling and believable. Um, obviously sometimes people can speak to clinical shadowing experiences.

Ishaani: I’ve also read amazing, fantastic applications that where students talk about doctors that have had a really. Great impact in their life and they’ve kind of realized the privilege and the, um, honor and also like the responsibility and sometimes like how onerous being a physician is and how challenging that is, [00:18:00] and recognizing that.

Ishaani: I think those are things that really stand out to me and people that, you know, shadow and, uh, see that firsthand can really speak to it much better. That being said, there are people that don’t have that much clinical shadowing experience and still write very thoughtful essays about why they wanna be a doctor.

Ishaani: Um, I think volunteering experiences are also really great. Um, I know I oftentimes like advise my students on like, you know, extracurriculars to get involved in within their area that are related to health. And I think sometimes people have this impression that if I wanna do a healthcare related, um.

Ishaani: Activity outside of school, whether it be shadowing or volunteering. That means it has to be shadowing a doctor, it has to be in a hospital. I like to encourage my students to have a really broad, um, idea of what health is. You know, health exists in all parts of our life. We don’t just think about health in the [00:19:00] hospital when you’re at your doctors, but health is determined by so many different things when you think about social determinants of health.

Ishaani: So health is determined by your ability to read and interact with the world and exercise and the job you have and what your family looks like, and what your home life looks like, where you live, et cetera. So I’ve had students, you know, I’ve had students volunteer at, um, like, you know, helping, helping younger students read and they’ve been like volunteers at their local library doing reading clubs for like elementary school students and helping them with reading and remembering that.

Ishaani: Helping kids read and to think about like, be better readers and focus on their literacy, et cetera. That’s also super important for their health as they get older. Um, I’ve had, uh, people volunteer at, you know, uh, like, um, what’s it called? Uh, [00:20:00] assisted living facilities where again, that’s a little bit more health related, but they don’t have to be hospitals or clinics.

Ishaani: You know, just working with people at assisted living facilities and just chatting with them about their experiences there and doing things that might feel relatively small, like, you know, uh, playing bingo or chatting with them and volunteering in that way. Of course, I’ve had students that do things that are more classically, like pre-med activities.

Ishaani: I’ve had students that were EMTs, for example, in high school. So I like to just remind people that you can really think about health. In a lot of different ways. And you don’t have to just be in a hospital. There are a lot of different ways you can engage with health and you can engage with your community.

Ishaani: There’s also community service is something that makes people really stand out in their applications. Um, with respect to community service, uh, I always advise students to, when they think about volunteering, thinking about volunteering, I feel like I kind of [00:21:00] think about it in two different ways. I feel like people do usually volunteering that has a direct impact.

Ishaani: And I think also volunteering as like a more of an indirect impact. So, and not that one’s better word, but just like how I like to kind of categorize the two types of volunteering in my head. So I think things like an indirect impact are things more around, um, for example, things where you like raise money for a certain cause or, uh, and then you put it towards something very important, uh, like doing like a fundraiser or a 5K for let’s say.

Ishaani: Pediatric diabetes is like an example. Um, then there is also things like that have more of, a bit of like a direct impact. Like, oh, I started a club where I taught, did music lessons for people at a nearby elementary school, which is like a little bit underserved. That’s when like a more direct impact ’cause you’re like really directly in the community [00:22:00] doing things.

Ishaani: Um, I find that students with those experiences oftentimes have more compelling stories to tell. Granted, not, it’s not like one is better or worse, um, but sometimes I find that those stories can be more interesting and people can speak to those in direct interactions they have with the people that they’re serving.

Ishaani: Um, and since so much of medicine has interact with, with people being able to show that humanistic side of you, connecting with people that you don’t know. Um, is sometimes really lovely to see in people’s applications. Leadership is also really important. So much of being a physician is being a team player.

Ishaani: And sometimes, you know, I think you realize as you get older, like leadership isn’t always about telling what people do. I think the best are the ones that listen really well. Um, so showing that you’ve been a great team player and you’ve led teams and you’ve really thought about everyone’s inputs, [00:23:00] that’s something that really makes people stand out as well.

Ishaani: And again, all these things, they don’t have to be related to medicine. It could be your first chair in orchestra or you’re a captain of a sports team. All those skills will also be so helpful in medicine. Um, and also any career even outside of medicine. I like to remind students that they’re like, oh, I’m pre-med is, I mean, everything I have to do in my application is related to medicine.

Ishaani: And the answer to that is honestly, it’s no, like it, you should have interest in a life outside of medicine. Um. Be a well-rounded individual ’cause you know, you wanna be a doctor, but also people wanna see that you’re a cool, interesting person that they’d wanna spend time with. Um, science competitions are also something that a lot of pre-meds do as well, and make them stand out, show that that analytical kind of science brain, especially if they’re, you know, interested in being a doctor and being, having a more research or academic focused career.

Ishaani: And then honestly, like I said, any extracurricular that you [00:24:00] enjoy and you feel like enriches your life. And those are always things that are great to see. So for example, for me, in college or in high school, I was in my high school’s jazz band. Jazz was like a huge part of my life. I was a member of my school’s fencing team.

Ishaani: Um, I also was like a women in STEM club. Um, so there are a lot of different things I do. Obviously, like none of them were like super directly related to medicine, but I was able to speak to those experiences like very thoughtfully and in, in a reflective way. And I think that’s probably what made me stand out in my application, I’d hope.

Ishaani: Perfect segue of what role do personal statements and supplemental essays play in applying to college and applying as a pre-med student?

Ishaani: So I always tell the students, I advise that, um, your personal [00:25:00] statement and your supplements are really like one of the few times in the college application process where people get to know who you are as a person. Um. I feel like so often, you know, you’re kind of like reduced unfortunately to like a bunch of stats and, uh, like this GPA and these test scores and from this area, but this is the place where you really get to be you.

Ishaani: I think the, the personal statements and the letters of recommendations are the first time we get to like really introduce and get a sense of who you are as a person. Um, so they’re very, very great, especially when you’re applying to competitive schools, to be really honest and, and applying like BS programs, everyone has the great grades, everyone has the grade extracurriculars, so what sets people apart is their personal statements and their supplements.

Ishaani: Um, also. Even like your resume, it’s [00:26:00] like the, the bullet point list of all the things you’ve done. I’ve had students who maybe have like a resume that’s packed, but then their essays kind of read a little bit flat and you’re like, oh, that’s okay. And I’ve also had students that maybe have resumes with like less lines of publications or a slightly lower GPA or slightly lower SAT/ACT scores.

Ishaani: But then I read their essays and I, I’m like just amazed by how thoughtful they are at the age of like 17. And I’m like, wow, this is someone who I’d wanna meet and this is someone who I’d want to take care of my family member if they were sick. And that’s what really makes people stand out. Um, I also, that’s why I often advise my students when they’re doing these extracurricular activities, especially ones that are like maybe more health related or like, especially in that pre-med space, I haven’t advised them to, I.

Ishaani: Just like reflect on them. So like, for example, if you’re shadowing or you’re working in a clinical space every single day after work, write a [00:27:00] few bullet points about like how the day went, or maybe journal about it for like 10 minutes. Like, nothing crazy. And then when you’re writing your essays and actually doing, you know, making your personal statement and you’re making your essays, you can kind of look back and be like, huh?

Ishaani: Like, what are like the anecdotes or special moments that stood out to me. I’ve also had students that, like, I personally, like I advise my students to do that. Did I actually do it when I was in high school? No. But then when it came to writing my essays, like when I spoke to my volunteering and my research experiences, the moments that stood out to me just came to my brain first thing.

Ishaani: And then I was able to speak to those because there were things that are really impactful and made me really think about what it means to be a doctor and why I wanna be a doctor. I think most importantly, again, medicine at, at its core is a people facing profession. Um, you have to obviously be, you know.

Ishaani: Very smart, very academic, learn a lot, memorize a lot, really understand the path pathology and the pathophysiology and [00:28:00] anatomy of the body. Um, you know, it’s a very cerebral career, but also at the end of the day, it’s a people facing career, even if you’re in a specialty. Like some specialties of course are, are less people facing the others.

Ishaani: But even if you’re not working directly with patients, you’re definitely gonna be working with teammates and people on the team in the hospital. Uh, like, you know how the fellow healthcare providers, all your fantastic colleagues in nursing and PT and or physical therapy and occupational therapy and social workers, et cetera, it’s really a team sport.

Ishaani: Um, so demonstrating communication skills, demonstrating, Hey, I’ve worked on a team before, demonstrating. You have self-awareness and that you can reflect on things you’ve done well, that you can reflect on things that you wanna improve on, and also showing that, you know, you really understand what a career in healthcare looks like and you want that career in healthcare.[00:29:00]

Ishaani: And that kind of leads me to the second part of your application that really helps you stand out and pop out of the page as a real human being. The letters of recommendation. So when you’re thinking about who to ask free letters of recommendation for a me pre-med program, um, I often when I tell, like my students ask me these questions, I haven’t asked them to think about who knows them the best.

Ishaani: I think sometimes as a pre-med student, you’re like, oh, my biology teacher has to be the one that writes my letter. Or my, um, it has to be my chemistry teacher because like, those are the pre-med classes. Sure. I mean, that’s, that’s great. But if you’re like, you know what? My English teacher knows me way better.

Ishaani: My English teacher could write me a much stronger letter, you know, my English teacher I’ve had for two years. So I think she knows me better. Those people are often, I often tell people to focus on just who knows you the best and who would write you the strongest letter. [00:30:00] I also think, again, going back to the point of like, you wanna be this well, well-rounded person, you should focus on having two people from like, kind of different aspects of your life.

Ishaani: Um, so maybe like for me, I remember when I think I applied, I had of course letters from my teachers, but I also had a letter from a research mentor as well. Um, so having the academic and non-academic things, I know students who are like really into like their sport. Um, sometimes team captain like their, um, you know, their coaches write letters, um.

Ishaani: And I think for myself, like I had one of my chemistry teachers wrote a letter who I, and actually I feel like I really excelled in the class. I really enjoyed the class and I also had a Latin teacher. And my Latin teacher, obviously, like Latin is not related to pre-med at all. Um, but I feel like I really loved the class and I feel like she could speak to my skills, um, really well.

Ishaani: So that’s really worked too. And again, the stuff that’s [00:31:00] important in the personal statement are also important in the, um, uh, what’s it called in the letters of recommendation as I’ve gotten older and, you know, done had more to add, more litters. ’cause you know, your high school, I feel like college apps were the first time in my life where I like needed a letter of recommendation.

Ishaani: Um, or maybe he was like. Summer programs I applied to in high school. But as you go on, and especially in a career in medicine and a career in any field, as you get older, you’ll, you’ll need more and more letters of recommendation. As I’ve gotten older, something that I realized kind of helps my writers and ensures that I get really strong letters is sometimes telling my writers what I like them to focus on.

Ishaani: Sometimes I give like, and it’s something I do personally right now in my life, when I ask for letter of recommendation, like for example, even for med school or residency, I will write like a bullet point list of like things that I think they should focus on based on our interactions together. So I don’t know if that’s common for [00:32:00] high schoolers to do, so feel free to take that piece of advice with a grain of salt, but it’s something that I do, um, right now too.

Ishaani: Uh, okay. What common mistakes do applicants make and how can you avoid them? Uh, again, I feel like I talked about this maybe briefly, but now explicitly saying it. I think some people think like, oh my goodness, I have to be like, have the perfect academics and then they spend so much time in their academics.

Ishaani: But remembering that, again, it’s about being a well-rounded applicant. So I’d rather see someone with a slightly lower SAT and a CT who, um, you know, has these amazing volunteering experiences that they did. That being said, you know, if you’re under a certain amount, it’s like, you know, there’s still like a, a filter sometimes, but trying to be a well-rounded person and not spend so heavily and be so one dimensional academics that you don’t have extracurriculars that you can speak to.

Ishaani: I also think, [00:33:00] again, the essays sometimes, um, are where you stand out. So then if everyone has these like amazing, you know, grades, et cetera, what makes you stand out is the essay. So if your essay kind of reads like just fine, then people won’t remember it. And unfortunately you can kind of. Be a little bit forgotten as an applicant.

Ishaani: Um, limited exposure to healthcare. I think this is something that’s really, really tricky to be honest. Um, because of course certain and growing up in certain environments lends itself to having more easy access to healthcare exposure. So for example, I know students that live in like smaller cities where there’s really only one big hospital in the area.

Ishaani: They’re like, well that hospital, hospital doesn’t really let high school students volunteer. So I’m kind of stuck. I know I was super lucky to grow up in the suburbs of Chicago and Chicago has multiple massive academic centers, so I like could look at so many different places to potentially volunteer at.

Ishaani: So it was easier for me. I [00:34:00] also know, I think it’s something that’s really important, especially in the pre-med space, is there are people whose parents are physicians and obviously like if your parents are physicians and they know physicians in the area, it’s way easier to find an, you know, someone to shadow with.

Ishaani: Not that that’s a bad thing. Of course, if that’s you, that’s amazing and you should make the most of those opportunities. Sometimes people feel that like, well, if that’s not me, how am I gonna find that opportunity? Um, I think especially now, I think people are trying to think about the backgrounds that students came from and think about their access and ability to get certain exposures.

Ishaani: So people take this with a grain of salt, but try your best to show that you’re doing something to engage with this, with healthcare as a career because it’s, it’s a lot, but I wanna be a doctor but not really have much to back it up. Um, and then another thing is when you apply to these schools, and this is whether you apply pre-med or not, time management is so important.

Ishaani: Uh, getting a sense of where you wanna apply to writing these essays as soon as can, [00:35:00] as you can, and starting over the summer if possible, will make the whole process a lot less stressful. Um, and your future self will really thank your past self for being super on top of it. So now for some final words of advice, and I’ve been talking for a bit, again, it’s never too early to start thinking about things, planning your coursework, extracurriculars, you know, the experiences you wanna get outside of school, strategically and thoughtfully.

Ishaani: And that’s also something that I love advising my students on, especially my ninth, 10th, and 11th graders on. Um, so never to really just start thinking about that and start thinking about how you can get these opportunities and, you know, planning out like, what should I do this summer? Or how can I get involved with my community right now?

Ishaani: I think focusing on a genuine, genuine interest in medicine don’t feel like, oh, I have to do the volunteer to do it. I think you, you can tell when people really [00:36:00] love their experiences and like, speak and speak to it thoughtfully. Then it was just something they did to check a box. Um, seeking mentorship and guidance and feedback throughout the process.

Ishaani: You know, getting, checking in with people, being like, does this seem right? Um, and then again, this is gonna be true if you’re going into medicine at any stage in your career, but balancing your academics with personal growth, wellbeing, which is super important and meaningful experiences, and that rings true whether you’re a pre-med, whether you are a medical student, whether you’re a resident, and honestly, even when you’re an attending.

Ishaani: Okay.

Lonnie: Okay. Thank you so much Ishaani, so much for sharing all of this really great information to our audience around just all things that have to do with getting into those top colleges as a pre-med applicant. Um, so we’re now gonna [00:37:00] move into our live questions and answers and so if you haven’t already, you can go ahead and place your questions in the q and a tab and then we’re gonna do our best to get to them.

Lonnie: Also, I have on the webinar, Anna, who is gonna be supporting by answering some of your questions. So we may not get to read your question out loud, but our goal is at least to provide you with a written response to your question. Okay. So, and just a reminder, this webinar is being recorded and also you can go ahead and download the handouts as well.

Lonnie: Okay. Ishaani, are you ready? Okay, so I’m gonna go over the first question. So it says, now that you’re in your residency, do you think a BSMD program is better or is it smarter to do a regular four year degree and then apply to medical school?

Ishaani: Yeah, now that I’m like at the end of it, honestly, either way is fine.[00:38:00]

Ishaani: Um, I think it’s important to remember that BSMD programs, they’re far in few. Um, it’s nice to like kind of have that, you know, guaranteed conditional acceptance. But it’s important to remember that most people do not get into medical school with the BSMD program. I advise all my students who are thinking about BSMD programs do not be of the mindset of BSMD or bust.

Ishaani: If you don’t get into a BSMD program, that’s fine. You’ll go to a great undergrad institution for four years, go to a great med school for four years and you can become a doctor. That’s how most people become a doctor and they’ve all become excellent doctors. So at the end of the day, my, my final word is either way is great.

Lonnie: Nice. Nice. Okay. So our next question is about the clinical exposure. Do you have any tips or do you know any ways to reach out to hospitals? This is for a student who is in the ninth grade currently. Mm-hmm. Um, as, and then did they have a little bit, a little more part of the question is as some preferred college [00:39:00] students instead of high schoolers.

Lonnie: So I would love to get your experience.

Ishaani: Yeah, no, I think that’s a really good point. I think a lot of these hospitals are like, you know, like if you’re under 16, they like don’t even want you to volunteer. Some places are under 18. So then of course it lends itself to more college age volunteers and not, uh, high school volunteers.

Ishaani: Um, that’s kind of where I go back to my point of like, remember, like to have a really broad definition of healthcare. If you can’t find some, like if your hospital is simply like near you, simply saying, we do not, we’re not interested in having you volunteer based on your age or whatever it is. To other places thinking, think about, um, like community clinics in your area.

Ishaani: Think about places like Planned Parenthood. Think about places like, um, assisted living facilities. Uh, thinking about like opportunities to engage with your community. Again, like at local libraries, um, resources and places that provide places for children. Um, volunteering at like local offices that, you know, advise.[00:40:00]

Ishaani: Like for example, I know like there are programs that help seniors and, and advise them on like what Medicare plans to pick. That’s not, you know, you are not providing medical advice. It’s not like directly like clinical, but of course it’s so important related to healthcare. So having a like, so like senior centers have a lot of amazing programs, so it doesn’t have to be a hospital.

Ishaani: Think about all, all the things in your community. Yeah.

Lonnie: Okay. Moving on to our next question. Um, it reads are extracurriculars that aren’t healthcare related, but are good with community service and leadership still good for college applications or are healthcare related extracurriculars stronger on applications?

Ishaani: Um, my answer is like, if just do what you’re passionate about. If you’re like, Ugh, I have to go to this hospital and all I really do in this hospital is like restock supplies versus this community service thing where I really have a real impact and [00:41:00] I can speak to it and I interact with these people that I’m serving.

Ishaani: That opportunity is always gonna make you sparkle more than like, I was like in a hospital, but I wasn’t like talking to patients that much or something like that. So do the thing that you think you really enjoy more because then you’ll be able to speak to it so much with so much more passion and genuine interest, um, than doing the healthcare thing.

Ishaani: Just to tick the box. That being said, like, you know, if you’re able to like shadow for a week or two with a doctor over the summer, that’s great. But when it comes to like the big picture, like long-term volunteering experiences, pick something that you’re genuinely passionate about, it shows.

Lonnie: Okay. Um, Ishaani, I have a few of our live audience members who have asked questions about your background.

Lonnie: Um, if you can, you know, dive back to years ago, what was some of your like extracurriculars or maybe some of your shadow experiences that you had?

Ishaani: Yeah, totally. I’m happy to speak to it. I know it [00:42:00] feels like ages ago. It makes me feel so old sometimes. Um, but, so what did I do in college or in, in high school?

Ishaani: So in high school I focused like my main extracurriculars I did outside of school, like I said, I played the jazz bass. So I was in my school’s jazz band. I was in my school’s orchestra and I was like in a smaller jazz ensemble outside of school. Um, I also, so that was like, my music was like a really big part of my life.

Ishaani: I actually played the bass in like college and med school too. So it’s still like a pretty big part of my life and I love that, um, you know, aspect of my personality and my interest in music. I also was on the, my high school’s fencing team, to be really honest and really frank looking back, like, did I love fencing?

Ishaani: No, but did I like the people I was doing it with? And I, you know, thought it like, was fun to like, and kind of good to have a sport on my resume. Yeah, I’m gonna say that honestly. Um, I was also in my, the women in STEM [00:43:00] club, so like women in STEM club, I was one of the like leaders on that. I think those were onto like the big three things that I did.

Ishaani: Um, and volunteering wise, those, like the things I did in school, volunteering wise, I worked at or not worked. I volunteered at a local assisted. Living facility that was actually just a few blocks away from my house. So it was super easy and honestly, this is really convenient and lucky for me, it was like pretty easy for me to like pop in for like an hour or two a week.

Ishaani: But I did that from like sophomore year to senior year, like really consistently. Um, that’s something I didn’t actually explicitly talk about in today’s presentation, but when it comes to volunteering, doing like a week, volunteering here and a week there and like a month there, having more longitudinal volunteering experiences, I think also really make you stand out in your application.

Ishaani: And that goes for not just volunteering, but most things in your application. There are some people that like fill in their 10 common up essays with like things they’ve done like for one year each. I’d rather see a student that’s done like six or seven things on their common app [00:44:00] activities that like they’ve been doing for years than someone that did like a year of this and a year of that and they like have 10 listed versus seven.

Ishaani: Again, quality over quantity. Um. So I did that as well. And then I also, for my like kind of clinical and research exposure, I did a summer program at, um, a medical center in Chicago where I did like five weeks of like research and shadowing, essentially looking back, like was my research groundbreaking? No.

Ishaani: Did I even have a publication? No. Um, but it was good exposure for me and I think I was able to speak to it in a very thoughtful way, which is what made me stand out my 2 cents. And I think this is true for any point in your career, whether you’re applying to medical school, residency, et cetera.

Ishaani: Oftentimes it sometimes feels like it’s not always about what you do, but it’s how you can speak to that experience that really makes you stand out. So there are students who like genuinely like publish like papers [00:45:00] in high school I didn’t and, but I was able to speak to my clinical and shadowing experiences in a very thoughtful way, and that’s what made me stand out.

Lonnie: Great. And you kind of already started to, you touched on this a little bit in your response when I heard you say quality over quantity. And so someone asked like, are there too many extracurriculars you can do? Are there too many community service hours you can have? What are your thoughts?

Ishaani: So something that I like to tell people, and it’s good to be aware of on your common app application, you can only list 10 activities.

Ishaani: So if you’re trying to like run around and do everything for an hour each a week of like 12 different things, you can’t even mention all 12 on your common app essay or in your common app activity section. So again, you max that at 10. So don’t try to be like, oh, I volunteered for one day at this health service, like at this health fair.

Ishaani: Like that’s great, but it’s like one day of volunteering something that you’re gonna put on your common app activities. Like probably not if you [00:46:00] volunteer. Once a month for like over three years. Like of course talk about that. Like that’s really great. Um, but so there is such thing as too many, because you can only list it on your common app.

Ishaani: Um, is there such thing as too many hours? Something that I’m really honest about as someone who read applications, when there is someone that they who said, I have like a hundred for volunteering hours, versus someone that said like, I have 200 to 150 after a certain amount, it’s kind of all the same. Um, so if there’s like someone who had like a hundred hours, but they had a very thoughtful patient anecdote in their essay versus someone that had 200 hours, but like, they kind of like didn’t really speak about their com, their, their, um, experience that well, or like reading their personal statement just felt like they were summarizing their resume and get a sense of like what they actually did.

Ishaani: The person with less hours who spoke to it better probably was like someone I was like more impressed by.

Lonnie: Okay. Well thank you so much for [00:47:00] sharing about the extracurriculars. I know that we have a a few more questions related to the extracurricular area and job shadowing and clinical exposure, all those good things.

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Lonnie: We are here for the whole process, so I am going to leave that QR code on the screen in case you aren’t able to catch it. And we are gonna answer a few more of your questions that you have placed in the q and a tab. And Ishaani, are you ready for me to read the next question? Yes, I’m okay. So the [00:50:00] next question is, is it better to follow a science major in undergrad such as chemistry or biology?

Lonnie: Or is it okay to major in something else, maybe like business? Um, and do medical schools prefer pre-med students who have majored in science? Hmm. So again, really good question.

Ishaani: Um, again, I think that, like, again, I keep saying again, um, I feel that whatever you do as long as something you’re interested in and you can speak to it well, doesn’t really matter what you major in.

Ishaani: Um, I will say, this is my personal opinion, but I, when I’m reading essays and I, I read about a student who has a bit of, like a niche, you know, they’re like, oh, I am really interested in English and uh, I’m also wanna be a physician and I wanna do narrative medicine. And um, or medi medical [00:51:00] journalism is really important to me.

Ishaani: Um, there’s some students that are like, I really wanna look at medicine through like a community based um, lens and I really wanna think about community based interventions for people’s health. And I wanted to be like a sociology or an urban planning urban design major. Um, urban studies major and that’s why I want to think about medicine.

Ishaani: For me personally, I was like, I really love the computer science classes I took in, um, in high school. And so I went into med undergrad saying I really want to do computational biology and I wanna bring this different approach and like mindset into medicine. I think having those niches and having honestly like different non-traditional pre-med majors is honestly makes you stand out even more.

Ishaani: ’cause it shows that, um, you’re bringing a new perspective and a new skill set and a new kind of way of thinking into medicine. Because of course, no matter what you major in, like I was saying, you’re gonna be taking those pre-med courses. So you will be taking the [00:52:00] organic chemistries and the physics and the math classes.

Ishaani: So it’s not like you’ll be like doing less science or like not getting the appropriate pre-reqs. ’cause you have to do those pre-reqs and your major.

Lonnie: Yes. So you, you won’t avoid the sciences, but you don’t have, you may not have to major in science. Mm-hmm. Okay. Um, so I’m gonna ask the next question and because, you know, we have a, a good number of. Um, ninth grade students in our live audience. This is, this is coming from a ninth grade student and it reads as a ninth grader, how do I gain access to mentors or research and doctors for shadowing if I have no networking?

Lonnie: It seems to be very rare that a college professor or a doctor will allow a 14 to 15-year-old to enter their labs. Mm-hmm. So, you know, how do I kind of navigate this

Ishaani: Really great [00:53:00] question. Um, and so my students are working on now, it’s tough. I’m gonna be really honest. It’s hard, you know, college professors are busy people, doctors are really busy people.

Ishaani: I think everyone that goes into medicine, my take is someone that like, loves thinking about doing, doing a bunch of things, especially academic medicine. We are all people that are stretched very thin, unfortunately. Um, so first things first. If someone doesn’t respond to your. Don’t take it personally. Uh, and also again, I’ve had times where it’s hard for me as like a resident physician, it’s hard for sometimes people to get back to me.

Ishaani: Um, I felt that as a med student, I felt that as an undergrad student. So when it comes to finding research, the most important thing, and again, this is gonna help you at any point in your career, cast your net wide, especially as a high, like, kind of the lower you are on the rung, the more you gotta cast your net wide.

Ishaani: So as a high schooler, I’ve had students where I’ve advised and be like, okay, go onto your local university’s [00:54:00] website, make a spreadsheet of like 30 different, I’m not kidding, 30 different people you wanna email. Send them all emails. Like use a template and just fire all those emails out and see who, see who responds.

Ishaani: Um, ’cause sometimes you’ll send like 20 emails out and like one or two people respond and that’s what you gotta work with. Um. So that’s my, just cast a really wide net. Try reaching out to as many different people as you can. That’s something I like personally, like help my students do. I’m like, okay, let’s look.

Ishaani: I’m like, okay, like let’s look through this. Local college’s, uh, professors and I like scroll down. I’m like, okay, like what about these two people? And I show them the process. I’m like, okay, now go forth and continue with that and find the rest of the 20 people that you want to email. Put all their emails in their spreadsheet.

Ishaani: Put another column that says like the date you reached out to them. So you can be like, did I send them like, you know, make an, or like a folder in your inbox of like people I reached out to for research. [00:55:00] And then you can follow up and be like, you know, check like three weeks later and be like, okay, I clicked on that folder in my inbox.

Ishaani: Like how many of those people actually respond to. And if you respond to 20 and no one got back to you, then you do it again in a month and re send emails out to another 20. And at this point you just gotta see who bites. Um. Again, as you get older and farther in your career as a pre-med student, maybe you only have to reach out to like 10 or 15.

Ishaani: As a med student, maybe you only have to reach out to, like, you only have to reach out to five to 10. Um, but finding mentorship is probably the most important, but also one of the most challenges things to do at any point in your career.

Lonnie: Yes. So do not be discouraged, um, but be persistent. Okay. And, um, I’m gonna move into the next question. So, you know, a part of applying to, you know, top colleges is, like you said, it’s, it’s taking challenging coursework. It’s immersing yourself in extracurriculars that align to your [00:56:00] passions and all the other responsibilities that come with being a high school student.

Lonnie: And so someone asks, you know, what methods do you use to organize your time? Um, and maybe you can. You know, give this in the, in the angle of, you know, a high school student that’s trying to navigate so much, but like, you know, how are they kind of keeping themselves organized with their time?

Ishaani: Yeah. No, that’s a really good question.

Ishaani: Honestly, that’s why I’m like someone to give me the answer. I feel like life can be. So, um, what did I do in high school? I, like in high school, I was, I don’t know, I think I was a lot more type A than I was in high school than I am now. I’m very, very much chilled out. Um, but things that kept me really organized in high school, I had like a little planner, like a, like a little workbook thing that I like had I brought to, you know, and I’d write like for each subject, like if I had homework that night, and then I’d like checking off when I went home for like math, I’d be like, math homework, like English.

Ishaani: Like I have this essay due on [00:57:00] Friday. So I was always like, very on top of my assignments. Um, so that like, having like kinda like a weekly planner. Daily planner, that was super helpful for like me being on top of my work. Um. But of course, like that was just for my, my like homework homework when it came to how did I stay on top of my extracurriculars, et cetera.

Ishaani: Um, I think when it came to applying for summer opportunities, I think one thing that I realized, and I think maybe my, my students also like, have realized maybe about me is I think everything can be solved with like a spreadsheet and like just having like, okay, these are like the summer opportunities I’m gonna apply for.

Ishaani: This is like one column, one is like the name of the opportunity. Column two is the link online. Column three is the application deadline. Column four is how is my, like, how am I progressing so far? Like, do have to do like, have I finished one of the essays, have I finished the other? So like just having a spreadsheet and be able to like, organize your [00:58:00] life and be like, where am I at with all these different tasks I have to do?

Ishaani: It kind of gives you like a sense of like, okay, what’s going on? I often find that when I’m feeling like, oh my God, I have so many thoughts in my head. I have so much to, like, there’s this deadline and that deadline, et cetera. Just like taking it outta brain, your brain and putting it like on a piece of paper, whether it be physical paper or like a spreadsheet or some like online document, that’s really helpful and it kind of helps like declutter your mind and get a sense of like, okay, I have all these things.

Ishaani: Like I’m thinking about what do I actually have to do about it. Um, so that’s my 2 cents on that.

Lonnie: Yes, thank you for sharing some organization tips and I think we know in our adulthood, I think you just said in high school you were type A and like that’s kind of shifted and so it’s gonna be an ever evolving system that you’re trying out.

Lonnie: One week this organization system may work and in the next two months you may have to [00:59:00] adapt as well. But the biggest piece is trying to start some type of regimen that can really support you with your organization. Um, so our last question for our webinar is going to read. Do you have any steady tips that would.

Lonnie: That helped you through high school? ’cause you know, again, part of getting in these top colleges is you have to have, you know, that high academic profile, so. Mm-hmm. Any study tips that you can offer our audience? Yeah.

Ishaani: Okay. Um, study tips. So do you have some background? My high school looking back was like a pretty rigorous high school, like I think I was doing, and I tell people this and they’re like, really?

Ishaani: I’m like, I think I was doing like, which is crazy, I was doing like three to four hours of homework a night or like two to four hours of homework a night. I had a lot of homework in high school. That being said, I think it really prepared me for the academic rigor of college. Like, I don’t think I know some people when they came to college like, oh my God, this is so much work now.

Ishaani: And I was [01:00:00] like, well, my high school was like pretty hard. So I was always working this hard. Um, uh, so what did I do to study in high school? Uh, I feel like it’s been so long. I. Mm. I think like there’s like different types of studying in high school, I feel like studying for like an English test versus studying for like a math test versus studying for like a social studies test.

Ishaani: Like it’s a very different type of brain you have to use. So for math, like I would, you know, I feel like I, I had a lot of math homework every night. I feel like had an hour of math homework every single night. So I’d like review my math homework, like problems that were hard for me. Um, if like my teacher gave an extra worksheet of like, extra problems to do, I’d just like make sure I did all the problems.

Ishaani: I knew all the approaches. Um, I’d often like write, make myself these like review sheets of like, okay, like section 2.1, like these are the big formulas to know section 2.2. These were the big formulas to know. So I had like one sheet of paper that like [01:01:00] summarized like everything I need to know, like in one quick place.

Ishaani: That’s what I did for math. Um, what, and then for. English. Like again, I feel like English is so dependent on what your, your teacher is, what your teacher expects. Um, I try reading closely. I think for English essays my biggest piece of advice, especially like more classes where the grades are all about like the essays, like English, social studies, finish your assignment like a week-ish early and then ask your teacher and be like, Hey, can I come in during lunch to like review my essay with you before it’s actually due?

Ishaani: And then you kind of get your teacher’s feedback before it’s due. So then you kind of like get like your pre grades and you know what to fix to like make your actual grade better. Um, again, that you gotta kind of finish your essay early then, so it’s like a little bit more work for you and it pushes up the deadline for you.

Ishaani: But that’s how you, like, I often, I did that a lot in English class in high school and I feel like my grades were better for it. Um. For science [01:02:00] classes, again, like biology’s pretty memorization, heavy physics and chemistry are kind of like more problem heavy. So I feel like the way I studied for chemistry and physics was very similar to the way that I studied for, um, math and like where I’d like make these review sheets.

Ishaani: So like, okay, these are the different sections I have to know. Um, like making like, like, okay, two point chapter two, I like learned these things. Uh, there’s like the formulas I have to know, especially for chemistry and physics are very formula heavy. Um, yeah. And then I think just when it comes to like, don’t cram your studying.

Ishaani: So like if you’re ensuring that you’re really doing your homework well every single night, then it’s easier so you don’t have to like cram all the studying in ’cause you’ve been studying the whole time by doing well on homework and being on top of it There.

Lonnie: Great. Great. Well those were some awesome study tips, um, for our audience.

Lonnie: And thank you so much for even just going back through memory lane for yourself and recalling moments and [01:03:00] experiences to provide, you know, further insight to our audience as they get ready to navigate this application process. And so I wanna thank you so much Hanni for all your information that you shared with our audience tonight.

Lonnie: And thank you audience for joining us. This is now concluding our webinar, and again, you can find this webinar as is being recorded on our college advisor.com website by going to our webinar tab. And with that, I am now going to end the webinar. Thank you Ishaani thank you audience, and have a great day.